Quirky crockery

When it comes to interiors and decorating, our crockery can sometimes get overlooked. We buy some plain white plates, bowls and cups, put them away in a cupboard, and think our work is done. But to do this is to miss out on the potential of crockery to make a real statement – that statement could be serious (fine delicate china, for example) or rather more whimsical, as is the case with the pieces we're featuring today. Eating is a sociable activity, and dinner parties are a great excuse to show off your home, so laying your table with fun, quirky crockery that will get everyone talking is a great idea. We've rounded up some of our favourites here on homify, so browse on, and say goodbye to boring old white plates and cups!

Fabulous flamingoes

Fancy Flamingo Plate Set

We just love these quirky plates from Yvonne Ellen. Available with a range of animal prints – from flamingoes to whales – they're all handmade from highest quality fine bone china, and all feature gilt edging. Not only would they look fabulous on the dinner table, we think they would work as wall art, too, and you wouldn't even have to worry about buying a frame! Delicate, beautiful and quirky: we love them.

Gin teacup

Gin Teacup and Saucer

This 'Gin' teacup, also from Yvonne Ellen is both fun and fabulous. Serve up tea or coffee in these cups and you'll be sure to have tongues wagging in no time. Not only that, but it'll probably inspire your guests to really get the party started, too! Alternatively, the 'Gin' teacup would be a fantastic gift for a friend, a family-member or anyone else, whether they have a weakness for gin or not! The cup is handmade from high quality fine bone china.

Delicate flowers

Atelier Soleil is one of the oldest ceramic workshops in Provence, in France. Based in Moustiers Sante-Marie, the workshop produces 'faience' earthenware, all handmade and respectful to techniques and traditions that go back centuries. 'Faience' refers to a type of fine pottery that involves a tin glaze on a delicate and pale earthenware body. Each piece made by Atelier Soleil is thrown on a pottery wheel or moulded by hand, in just the same way as the potters of the 17th century would have worked. Each piece is decorated by hand on uncooked glaze. When finished, the decorator of the piece signs it, so you know you're getting the real thing. We love these delicate flower plates – from the hand painted detailing to the ruffled edges they're quirky yet supremely elegant.

Tiny landscape in a coffee cup

Think we're showing you a stained cup? Think again! From Studio Yukihero Kaneuchi comes 'Tiny Landscape in a Coffee Cup' – far from being a stain around the inside, it's a painted image of a little girl dancing through a meadow. Kaneuchi wanted to explore the idea of a product interacting with its environment, 'aging' and gaining knowledge of its function in the world. He says that the 'stain' is a representation of the cup's 'feelings'; its memory as it is used and ages. It's certainly a piece that'll get the conversation started!

Butterflies

Insects on your crockery? Probably not the first thing you think of when you think of tableware. But Anne Wodrasca has pulled off the unlikely feat of making bugs on plates look beautiful and appealing. The intricate detailing, and kaleidoscopic colouring of these butterflies make them beautiful to look at. You might find yourself eating your dinner extra quickly – just so you can clear you plate and take another look at them!

Electric dandelion

Electric Dandelion Jug

The bright blue, aptly named Electric Dandelion jug from Sarah Newman Design is whimsical, vibrant and beautiful. Newman 'upcycles' old glassware, sandblasting designs onto vintage pieces and giving them a new lease of life. This combination of the whimsical dandelion design with the classic, vintage Whitefriars-style jug works particularly well. Sandblasting is a process whereby a mask is applied to glass, and then sandblasted, creating a permanent design by removing a layer of glass through the mask. So you don't need to worry about it rubbing off!

Cup with legs

The only thing you might have to worry about with this espresso cup from the Inuk Kollektiv is that it might run away with your coffee! Delightfully quirky, the designers say its design was inspired by ceramic arts and crafts from the 18th century. They adapted that traditional form, and produced the cup using a 3D printer. Very modern.